Removal from the list, announced by the department on Friday in an e-mailed statement, came as a matter of course because Congress made no move to block the action within 45 days after President Barack Obama announced plans to do so on April 14.

President Barack Obama is seeking more than $2 billion to respond to the surge in children and other migrants from Central America who are illegally crossing the U.S. border, and is asking for new authority to return them home more quickly, the White House said Sunday.

the border element will mysteriously fall by the wayside, and the entire operation will end up only expediting the granting of asylum to most of the parents and children who have come here illegally, under the argument that they are fleeing in fear of their lives and also under our family reunification policy. He’ll try to keep the statistics on all of this hush-hush. But it will accomplish his goal, and he will extend programs like his executive action of June 2012 that started the whole Cloward-Piven illegal immigration ball rolling.

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday to penalize Venezuelan government officials found to violate human rights in that country’s crackdown on a protest movement, ratcheting up pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s beleaguered government.

The bill calls for President Barack Obama to draw up a list of Venezuelan officials who are alleged to have violated human rights, freeze any assets they might have in the U.S., and bar them from entering the country by either withdrawing or denying visas.

A similar bill has been approved by a Senate committee, and is headed for a vote on the Senate floor in coming days.

Passage of the bill also raises pressure on the Obama administration, which has been wary of passing any kind of sanctions for fear it could create a backlash by allowing Mr. Maduro to mobilize supporters against the U.S. and distract from Venezuela’s growing homemade troubles. The administration also fears that the sanctions could jeopardize attempts at reaching a negotiated solution between the government and the opposition.

Democrats led by Michigan Rep. John Conyers wrote a letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday backing his administration. They also urged an exchange of ambassadors with Venezuela after a four-year hiatus.

Venezuela alleged on Wednesday that the U.S. ambassador to Colombia has plotted to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro’s rule, adding to tensions between the two countries as the U.S. House approved a measure calling for sanctions on officials in the South American nation over human rights abuses.

Triggers of Change
The potential for positive change in growth in the years ahead is not an accident; it is a consequence of the consistency, congruence and sense of urgency that a group of countries have adopted as their policy cornerstone. Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay represent 70 per cent of the region’s population and 75% of the regional GDP.

This group of countries has common characteristics that explain their outstanding performance:
 The strengthening of Liberal Democracy.
 The adoption of an institutional Framework in favor of foreign and national investment.
 The construction of a sound and sustainable social safety net.
 The expansion of export markets and the commercial integration with the world (through free trade agreements).
 A public administration driven by results and the elimination of the byzantine ideological debate between left and right.
 A sound macroeconomic administration driven by fiscal and monetary prudence.
 Better regulatory environment.
 Construction of strategic infrastructure.
 The consolidation of an innovation agenda leaded by an improvement in education.
 A well capitalized financial sector and the constant expansion of financial services.

Today countries like Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, and Paraguay, as well as most of the Caribbean States, are following this line of behavior. Because of that, the IDB, with Luis Alberto Moreno as its leader, many analysts, statesmen and prestigious publications like The Economist, are optimistic and talk about “The Latin American Decade.”

Countries that opted for a sound evolution of policies have motivated sustainable positive change. Countries that have opted for a “Revolution” to accommodate the institutional order in favor of an ideology have been shown to be ones with instability, limitation of individual liberties, government intervention, lack of confidence from investors, and a growing social polarization with the risks of political turmoil’s [sic].